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Thorntons abandons plans for gas station in the Highlands after property declared a landmark

The designation as a landmark of an East Broadway house needed for a Thorntons outlet has apparently prompted the large gas station and convenience store chain to abandon interest in the high-profile site.

The parcel at the southwest corner of Broadway and Baxter Avenue across from the main entrance to Cave Hill Cemetery has been newly advertised as available for commercial use.

Earlier this year, Thorntons took the parcel under contract and acknowledged plans to develop the site with another outlet. But to properly develop the project, the petroleum company said it also needed to acquire an adjoining parcel at 1240 E. Broadway.

The house at 1240 E. Broadway.(Photo: Jefferson PVA)

To protect the residential structure from likely demolition, some preservation forces circulated petitions and eventually persuaded the Louisville Landmarks Commission to designate the house as a landmark. That designation can make it difficult to demolish a structure; the owner, for instance, may have to demonstrate economic hardship before razing a designated building.

Glenn Price Jr., the lawyer for Thorntons, said Monday that Thorntons has withdrawn its interest in the property. He said the withdrawal came recently, and before he had a chance to appeal the landmarks designation by the commission to the Louisville Metro Council. The elected body has the authority to review Landmarks Commission decisions.

Although Thorntons didn't appeal to the Metro Council, the owner of the corner parcel once sought by Thorntons, Kennie Combs, did recently file suit in Jefferson Circuit Court seeking to overturn the landmarks designation.

Defendants in the lawsuit included the Landmarks Commission and several neighborhood groups who opposed demolition of the adjacent house. The groups included Open Louisville and the Original Highlands and Cherokee Triangle neighborhood associations, according to Steve Porter, a preservation attorney.

The house was built in the 1890s and is located in the Original Highlands National Register Historic District.

In a letter filed with Metro regulators justifying landmark status, Porter said its demolition "would be a disastrous blow to the historic, aesthetic, architectural, visual, and cultural heritage" of the neighborhood.

Price, on the behalf of Thorntons, had contended that the house didn't meet the criteria to be granted landmarks status, but the commission ended up finding that it met five of the nine measurable criteria.

Reversal of the landmarks designation could make Combs' corner parcel more attractive to the next developer who expresses interest.

An abandoned Bader's food market is located on the corner tract across from Cave Hill. On the north side of Broadway at Baxter, an Ohio developer is constructing several hundred apartments – on the longtime Phoenix Hill Tavern site.

Thorntons had planned an outlet with gasoline pumps and a convenience store with about 4,300 square feet of space.

Reporter Sheldon S. Shafer can be reached at 502-582-7089, or via email at sshafer@courier-journal.com.